Different writers, eh? So that explains it!! I recorded all of Season 3 and have watched the first two episodes thus far. To say that the two episodes have been lackluster is an understatement. I was so underwhelmed I considered if it was worth my time to watch the rest of them.
The storylines are droll, with little intrigue or excitement. The characters are flat and lifeless. They have no depth to them anymore.
Phryne is more of a caricature of who she was in prior seasons, as her mannerisms and behavior now seem contrived rather than natural. Meet a new guy? Yeah, have sex with him. Why not. I guess every episode will be a different screw just for screwing sake. The sex comes off as a cheap ploy just to show her having sex with random men rather than it being about anything. Lazy writing.
Even her clothes are starting to annoy me. Every outfit is the same style: pants and long coat. I miss her creative fashions. Each new scene used to be a treat with her in a different glorious outfit. Now it is, "Oh, that again."
Jack is wooden. Give him a love interest. Make him a better detective than Phryne's puppet. Do something with him! As of now, he offers very little to the show and I wish they would replace him with a more dynamic male lead. And given how Phryne has become a one-woman police force (shooting it out with criminals, interrogating suspects, investigating leads) who needs him anyway.
Gone is the pretense of Pyrne "assisting" Jack or the police. Witness a crime? Call Phryne. Apparently, she is now a full-fledge member of the police department who is allowed at all crime scenes, allowed to interrogate suspects, allowed to steal evidence. No creative reason for her involvement. Lazy writing.
The Jack and Phryne romance tease has run its course. I am bored with it now and roll my eyes every time either of them feigns interest in the other. Not only do they NOT have any on-screen chemistry, Jack has got to be the most asexual character I've ever seen. He supposedly wants her but just looks on like a lost puppy while Phryne screws any (other) man walking. He wants her but won't even kiss her. Is he a man or a 16-year old boy? I am starting to wonder.
I mean episode 2 when Phryne and Jack were facing off with the Italian guy in the restaurant and Phryne was the only one who pulled a gun and the only one shooting back while Jack just stood there helpless was too much. Could they emasculate him anymore than that? Yet the writers want us to believe strong, feisty, sexual Phryne lusts after a weak, doorstop of a man like Jack. Please!
In short, the characters have lost their spark. The show has lost its delightful intrigue. I place the blame squarely at the feet of these new writers. They aren't very creative or nuanced in their writing and it shows.
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cosmic_surveyor
9 years ago
I mean episode 2 when Phryne and Jack were facing off with the Italian guy in the restaurant and Phryne was the only one who pulled a gun and the only one shooting back while Jack just stood there helpless was too much. Could they emasculate him anymore than that? Yet the writers want us to believe strong, feisty, sexual Phryne lusts after a weak, doorstop of a man like Jack. Please!
Jack have an off-screen history and relationships with that episode's transient characters. And there was, to some extent, a deference to the culture of these characters who exhibited honor and respect.
Phryne was just an interloper passing through.
I do not question the meritocracy of Jack's current position. He overcame the challenges put forth before him. But one wonders if his life experiences were adequate for the crimes he has to deal with while hanging around with Phryne.
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Est modus in rebus sunt certi denique fines quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum Goldilocks
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ph75006
8 years ago
Didn't Jack serve in the war? I have some vague recollection of something like that...and Phyrne was also involved in the war effort as well. She didn't become wealthy until afterwards, through inheritance, I think.
I also thought Jack was a bit of a "doorstopper" at first but then changed my mind. He reminds me of a couple of my grandfather's friends who were also veterans and who were "never quite the same afterwards." They were very reserved, somewhat soft-spoken and very reluctant to engage or condone any sort of violence unless absolutely necessary. It took me a couple of seasons to "take" to Jack but now I think he's alright. There's something quite sexy about his solemness and suppressed passions.
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theRetiree
8 years ago
Binge watching, so we've got the backstory: Like Claire Randall in "Outlander," Phryne was a combat nurse (only in WW I rather than WW II) so she always leaps forward in cases of bloody chest wounds, even when she's wearing white silk pants and white coats. After the War she wound up in Paris as a nude artist model posing for a Pierre Bonnard-style painting that hung for a time in her room. If you know Bonnard, it was amazingly racy for TV. He now loves modern art, and her house is full of pieces in various styles. At the time she was poor and wound up in an abusive relationship with a tempremental French artists (are there any other kind?) Bern and Ernie (sorry, I mean Cec) are in the same episode as Australian soldiers who happen to be in Paris when the original murder occurs.
Thus far Jack has less of a backstory, but does tell Phryne that his marriage (to the Deputy Commissioner's daughter) fell apart because he wasn't the same man when he returned from the war.
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